“Freie Hansestadt Hamburg” — Since the 16th century the musical life was supervised by the municipal music director and Kantor of the four (later five) main churches; he was also responsible for the musical education at the Joanneum (cf. here d13.38) — most prominent Kantor in the 17th century was Thomas Selle; organists a.o.: Matthias Weckmann and Heinrich Scheidemann — Bach visited the town in 1702 (meeting with Reinken) and in 1720, in vain applying for the post of Jacobi organist — his son C.Ph.Emanuel was more successful in 1767 as the successor of city Kantor Telemann — from the end of the 17th century more emphasis on secular music — the first public opera theatre of Germany was opened in 1678 at the Gänsemarkt; 220 different operas were performed within 70 years — in the orchestra, conducted by Reinhard Keiser, Händel played (1702–05) —
Born in Hamburg: Carl Reinecke (*1824 in Altona) and Berthold Goldschmidt (*1903) — the Russian composers Schnittke and Gubaidulina settled in Hamburg in the 1990s